On the day after Halloween, in the year 1327, four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief, a bully, a boy genius and a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed. As adults, their lives will be braided together by ambition, love, greed and revenge. They will see prosperity and famine, plague and war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful, corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. And always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day...... & when they says LONG shadow, they ain't kidding as you have to get through about 1200 pages before finding out the reason for the killing!

To say it's such a big book it's a surprisingly easy read but that isn't really a compliment. Whereas as many historical novels really evoke the times they are portraying, this one, for me at least, didn't but despite that it's an enjoyable though not very credible read. It really didn't need to be such a long book (but again that's only my thoughts), especially as it was very repetitive. Caris &/or Merthin faced some catastrophic event - which was solved with less & less effort each time - on so many occasions it got monotonous! And by the end, some events seemed to occur & then just tale off - Lolla's escapade was a particularly pointless part for me & one with such a pathetic conclusion it had me sighing "OH PURLEEZE!!" & rolling my eyes in exasperation.

Overall though I enjoyed it & am glad I've read it. Will I read "Pillars of the Earth" on the back of this? Probably not. Would I recommend it? Hmmmm...well, if you fancy a Medieval Soap Opera (think of early "Neighbours" crossed with "Dallas" transported back 700 years - you get the gist!) you'll possibly love it. You have been warned. :o)

Released as part of the 2022 TV BOOK RELEASE CHALLENGE (#23)




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